Journal of Human Kinetics volume 27/2011, 180-189 DOI: 10.2478/v10078-011-0014-0 180 Section III Sport, Physical Education & Recreation Competitive Anxiety and Coping Strategies in Young Martial Arts and Track and Field Athletes by Mieczysław Radochoński 1, Wojciech J. Cynarski 2, Lidia Perenc 3, Lucyna Siorek-Maślanka 2 This study is an examination of the relationship between competitive anxiety and coping strategies in young athletes. Sixty karatekas and 72 track and field athletes were the subjects of the study. The age of the athletes ranged between 18 and 25 years. All had been practicing their sports for 6-8 years. The research instruments employed are the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Results show that martial arts athletes reported a significantly higher level of self-confidence and lower levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety compared to track and field athletes. The two groups also differed in regard to the use of coping strategies in stressful situations. For example, the karate athletes used more effective strategies such as taskoriented coping. In the next step of the study, the subjects were divided into two groups according to the level of performance (i.e. winners and losers ). The losers exhibited higher levels of anxiety, both cognitive and somatic, than winners. They also had higher scores on less effective coping subscales, e.g. emotion-oriented and avoidanceoriented. There is a significant interdependence between anxiety and level of performance in competitive stress situations. Future research should also consider the possible mediating role of other psychological factors, such as personality traits. Key words: Stress, Performance level, Competitive anxiety Introduction It is well recognized that the level of performance in competitive sports is influenced by a number of psychological factors, e.g. personality traits, competitive anxiety and coping strategies (Mytskan et al. 2006). The relationship between anxiety and level of performance in various sports has been the subject of many research studies (e.g. Krane and Williams, 1987; Swain and Jones, 1996). While competitive anxiety is a complex psychological phenomenon, it appears to be composed of some common basic elements. One such element is cognitive anxiety, 1 -Department of Psychology, University of Rzeszow 2 -Faculty of Physical Education, University of Rzeszow 3 -Institute of Physiotherapy, University of Rzeszow Authors submitted their contribution of the article to the editorial board. Accepted for printing in Journal of Human Kinetics vol. 27/2011 on March 2011.
by M. Radochoński et al. 181 which is characterized by athletes negative concerns about performance and disrupted attention. Another element, somatic anxiety, is characterized by several physiological symptoms such as excessive perspiration and tremor of limbs. Furthermore, there are some significant differences between male and female athletes regarding competitive anxiety. Also, the age and life experience of an athlete plays an important role. For example, Krane and Williams (1994) found that more experienced players had a much lower level of cognitive and somatic anxiety than less experienced athletes. In his review papers, Jones (1991, 1995) concluded that both the intensity and direction of anxiety symptoms are important determinants of performance in sports. Intensity and direction also interact with other psychological factors such as motivation, attitudes and expectations, as illustrated, for example, by Jones and Hanton (1996). Their examination of a group of competitive swimmers found that the subjects with positive expectations of goal achievement reported their anxiety symptoms as being more facilitative compared to those with negative expectations. This result especially refers to the cognitive element of anxiety. In another study (Hardy, 1997) it was demonstrated that some level of cognitive anxiety could be helpful to performance. This result clearly indicates that the ultimate effect of anxiety on performance is not always detrimental. Psychologists have long argued that employing a variety of coping strategies can modify the effects of anxiety symptoms. For example, in some situations where athletes hold positive attitudes about their ability to cope successfully, competitive anxiety can actually play a facilitative role. However, inadequate coping is more likely to be associated with destructive anxiety. Nevertheless, complex as the links between anxiety and coping strategies in relation to level of performance in sports may be, they are certainly of great importance. Yet, they have not been addressed enough in some sport disciplines. Martial arts serve as a sport discipline which is in need of such studies. In martial arts, there are many situations that can be perceived as challenging, threatening or even harmful. If athletes do not have sufficient coping skills to deal adequately with these situations, they are exposed to risks of poor performance, failure and even serious injury. To date, studies on coping strategies used by athletes have demonstrated that different individuals cope in different ways, e.g. using problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies. One of the findings of past studies is that athletes show a marked preference for using problem-focused rather than emotion-focused strategies. Usually they are convinced that problem-focused strategies are more effective in dealing with performance challenges and stressors (Crocker and Graham, 1995). Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics
182 Competitive Anxiety and Coping Strategies There is also an important difference between team and individual sports. According to Martens et al. (1990) for athletes who perform individually the threat of evaluation is maximized; that is the diffusion of responsibility for performance errors is minimized. In other words, individually performing athletes know that they alone are responsible for their failures or successes. If they want to succeed, they should lower their level of cognitive anxiety and raise their self confidence. Aim of the study The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between competitive anxiety and coping strategies used by martial arts athletes and its effect on performance level. It is expected that the potential interactive effects of those variables are of great importance for explaining both successes and failures in sport performance. This seems to be especially related to martial arts, because the sense of isolation and exposure is much greater in individual sports such as karate and judo than in team sports (e.g. football and basketball). For athletes in highcontact sports such as martial arts and boxing, an additional source of anxiety is the possibility of getting hurt. This is why most of them use different coping strategies aimed at reduction of intensity of stress-related anxiety. Based upon findings in recent research literature (e.g. Martens et al., 1990), it was hypothesized that a young athletes level of performance is influenced by self-confidence. The authors predicted that athletes achieving higher levels of performance use effective coping strategies more often and express lower levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety than athletes with lower levels of performance. Additionally the authors hypothesized that task oriented coping will negatively correlate with somatic anxiety and positively with self-confidence. Material and methods Participants Two groups of young athletes participated in this study. The first group consisted of 60 athletes performing karate kyokushin (group A). Training experience of the karate athletes ranged between 6-8 years. All were at an advanced level of training (5 kyu and higher degree). The group was comprised of 45 males and 15 females. The second group consisted of 72 young athletes, also of both sexes, performing various track and field events (group B). All participants in the study were regularly competing at the regional level. The age of the subjects ranged from 18 to 25 years (20.5 ± 4.5). Most were high school and college students. The subjects were approached through instructors, coaches and youth tutors who helped carry out the examinations. The basic ethical principles for conducting research studies were observed. The subjects were assured confidentiality regarding the data collected and their personal identity. Procedures Journal of Human Kinetics volume 27/2011, http://www.johk.pl
by M. Radochoński et al. 183 A set of questionnaires was administered to the athletes participating in the study. According to the instructions, they were asked to recall and briefly describe a recent stressful experience related to their sport (e.g. performance in a public place, failure in competition). They were also asked to describe the coping strategies they use while dealing with the stressful conditions. All questionnaires were administered by the researchers directly. Measures The first instrument used in the study was the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI- 2). This measurement tool is often used in research studies in order to estimate the participants cognitive and somatic types of anxieties, as well as their self-confidence (Martens, Vealey and Burton, 1990). The inventory consists of 27 items, 9 for each of three subscales (cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, selfconfidence). It requires approximately 5 minutes to administer. All items were rated on a 4-point Likert-type scale. The potential scores ranged from 9 (the lowest) to 36 (the highest). Regarding the content, all items were positively stated, except item 14 which was scored reversely in the analysis of results. This inventory was employed as a measure of cognitive and somatic anxiety in subjects and their self-confidence in sport-related competition situations. et al., 2000; Wrześniewski, 2000). This instrument measures three main coping strategies: task focused, emotion focused and avoidance coping. Avoidance coping can be divided further into two subtypes: Distraction subscale and Social Diversion subscale. The score range is from 16 to 80 points for the strategies and 5 to 40 and 5-25 for the two subscales. Task-oriented coping refers to purposeful task-oriented efforts aimed at solving the problem, cognitively restructuring the problem or attempts to alter the situation. The emphasis is on the task, planning and on attempts to solve the problem. Emotion-focused coping refers to emotional reactions that are self-oriented. The aim is to reduce stress. Reactions include emotional responses, self-preoccupation and fantasizing. Avoidance coping refers to activities and cognitive changes aimed at avoiding the stressful situation via distracting oneself with other situations or tasks, or via social diversion as a means of alleviating stress. In this study the CISS inventory was used as a tool for measurement of strategies used by subjects while coping with stress in sport competition situations. During the analysis of results, differences occurring between examined groups of athletes were verified in order to find out whether they run into the level of statistical significance. All calculations were performed by means of STATISTICA program v. 5.1. Their coping style in stressful situations was measured with the Polish version of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) (Cosway Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics
184 Competitive Anxiety and Coping Strategies Results Karate athletes (group A) reported significantly lower levels of both cognitive and somatic anxiety (p<.05). At the same time, the results indicated that their self-confidence was stronger than in athletes belonging to group B (Table 1). Table 1 Results for CSAI-2 Group Cognitive anxiety Somatic anxiety Self-confidence M sd M sd M sd A 16.8 2.6 15.7 3.2 29.3 5.6 B 20.1 3.2 19.6 5.1 22.8 4.7 p value p<.05 - p<.05 - p<.01 - M-mean value, sd-standard deviation Results for Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) Table 2 Task oriented Emotion Avoidance Distraction Social diversion Group oriented oriented subscale subscale M sd M sd M sd M sd M sd A 58.4 7.1 39.7 7.6 41.4 6.6 15.9 3.9 15.6 3.2 B 53.3 6.8 44.5 8.4 49.5 7.3 21.7 4.8 18.2 3.7 p value p<.05 - p<.05 - p<.01 - p<.01 - p<.05 - Table 3 Intercorrelation of CSAI-2 and CISS subscales Subscales 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. Cognitive anxiety -.61** -.48** -.12.34*.23.18.21 2. Somatic anxiety - - -.54** -.45**.16.08.22.15 3. Self-confidence - - -.56** -.31* -.38* -.25 -.12 4. Task oriented - - - - -.44* -.31*.14.08 5. Emotion oriented - - - - -.27.29*.30* 6. Avoidance oriented - - - - - -.33*.24 7. Distraction subscale - - - - - - -.20 8. Social diversion subscale - - - - - - - - * Correlation is significant at the.05 level; ** Correlation is significant at the.01 level Journal of Human Kinetics volume 27/2011, http://www.johk.pl
by M. Radochoński et al. 185 It shows that karate athletes (group A) in stressful situations clearly preferred using of taskoriented coping strategies. The difference between the two groups is statistically significant (p<.05). Compared with group B subjects (track and field athletes) group A placed much higher value on Focus on problem or Take best course of action. A significant difference between the two groups also appeared in the emotion-oriented coping subscale. In this case participants belonging to group A (karate athletes) showed a much weaker tendency to use strategies oriented towards emotions in stressful situations. In the avoidance-oriented coping subscale, subjects belonging to group B scored significantly higher. They tended to choose items such as Tell myself that (i.e. stressful event) is not really happening to me. Participants belonging to group A reported lower numbers of activities and cognitive changes aimed at avoiding stressful situations. The last scale was divided into two dimensions: distracting and social diversion. The heightened results in these dimensions were obtained by individuals who avoided stressful events via distracting. Results showed that cognitive anxiety was positively associated with somatic anxiety as well as emotion-oriented coping style and negatively associated with selfconfidence. Somatic anxiety was negatively related both to task-oriented coping strategy and self-confidence. Self-confidence showed a positive correlation only with task-oriented coping and the For the requirements of this part of our analysis, all participants were divided into 2 groups (Table 4). The first consisted of 34 athletes from group A and B who were winners in most of their competitive events (over 50 %). 98 persons belonged to the second group who declared that in more than 50 % of their sport events, they lost the competition. Athletes belonging to the group of losers reported significantly higher levels of both cognitive and somatic anxiety than those included in the group of winners (p <.01). Also they differed in regard to the dimension of selfconfidence: winners showed a much higher level of trust in themselves (Table 4). In order to assess the effectiveness of coping styles, the analysis took into consideration participants levels of performance in past competitions. The athletes assigned to the group of winners were more likely to use taskoriented coping strategies following stressors than losers (Table 5). Consistent with the greater use of task-oriented coping, this group of athletes also perceived emotion-oriented coping as a less effective strategy than athletes included in the group of losers. The losers had higher scores than winners on Avoidance-oriented coping, although the difference between the two groups was smaller than in case of Task-oriented coping. The winners had significantly lower scores than losers in both the Distraction and the Social diversion subscales. In this last case, the difference was not statistically significant (p >.05). correlation with other factors was a negative one. Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics
186 Competitive Anxiety and Coping Strategies Results for CSAI-2 for winners (n=34) and losers (n=98) Table 4 Group Cognitive anxiety Somatic anxiety Self-confidence M sd M sd M sd Winners (n=34) 15.4 3.1 14.9 2.7 30.2 4.8 Losers (n=98) 21.5 4.2 20.8 6.3 21.7 4.9 p value p<.01 - p<.01 - p<.01 - Results for CISS for winners and losers Table 5 Task oriented Emotion Avoidance Distraction Social diversion Group oriented oriented subscale subscale M sd M sd M sd M sd M sd Winners 62.1 7.4 37.9 6.8 42.6 6.8 16.5 4.0 16.8 3.6 Losers 50.8 6.5 46.4 8.8 48.8 7.7 20.9 4.2 17.5 4.1 p value p<.01 - p<.01 - p<.05 - p<.05 - n.s. - Discussion Sport places a wide variety of stressors on athletes. It can be exhausting both physically and mentally. The stress factors are related not only to opponents, but also to hostile fans, the physical conditions of a sport event, etc. All these elements need to be overcome by athletes. Despite this, regular participation in sport contests offers athletes an opportunity for improvement. However, in those who perceive sport-related stress in a negative way, it causes anxiety and nurture failure. In other words, while stress and uncertainty may motivate some athletes to a greater effort, it induces anxiety and a feeling of defeat in others. Participants in individual sports have been shown generally to report feeling a higher level of anxiety before, during and after competition than individuals participating in team sports Martens R., Vealey R.S., Burton D. (1990). This is because the sense of isolation and exposure is much greater in sports such as biathlon and judo than in football and basketball. For athletes in high-contact sports such as martial arts and boxing, an additional source of anxiety is caused by the possibility of getting hurt. Most of them use different coping strategies aimed at reducing the intensity of stress-related anxiety. The first important finding of our research is that the two compared groups of athletes differed Journal of Human Kinetics volume 27/2011, http://www.johk.pl
by M. Radochoński et al. 187 in regard to the level and type of anxiety. The martial arts athletes (karate kyokushin) reported significantly lower levels of both cognitive and somatic anxiety compared to the athletes involved in track and field. Also, karate athletes attained better result on the subscale measurement of selfconfidence, which is regarded as an important personality trait influencing the level of sports performance. It seems that training experience in karate positively influences the development and strengthening of athletes self-confidence. The second finding suggests that all three coping styles (i.e. task-oriented, emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented) discriminate, in some ways, both studied groups. The martial arts athletes praise the value of the task-oriented coping style significantly higher than the athletes representing track and field. The second group of athletes prefers emotion-oriented and avoidanceoriented coping, which are known to be much less effective strategies. This result of our research confirms an assumption that, for a similar level of competitive anxiety, karate athletes are more likely to use task-oriented coping strategies. This conclusion is consistent with previous studies showing that coping skills can be developed through specific training (Pfohl, 1980; Morales- Negron, 2008). The third important finding relates to the level of performance in sports. It seems that there is a significant interdependence between anxiety and level of performance in competitive stress belonging to the group of losers (lower level of performance) reported significantly higher intensity, both cognitive and somatic anxiety, than the winners group (higher level of performance). The two groups also differed in the self-confidence dimension: winners reported a much higher level of trust in themselves. Our study also highlighted some conceptual and methodological problems in relation to the use of such instruments as CISS and CSAI-2 in competition-related stress studies. The authors of this paper believe that both inventories should receive clear support because of their diagnostic value. The inventories have the potential to assess both anxiety associated with sport-related competition and coping strategies preferred by athletes in their efforts to alleviate a negative influence of stress. Future research aimed at examining the relationships between coping strategies and sportrelated stress should consider the mediating role of other psychological variables, such as personality traits - for example internal or external locus of control. It may also be important to educate sport managers and coaches about the significance of some psychological factors which play an important role in sport performance, including intense emotions and coping styles. This kind of knowledge should be incorporated into educational programs directed at professional athletes engaged in various sport disciplines, as situations. As the data show, the athletes Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics
188 Competitive Anxiety and Coping Strategies of athletes performance. Athletes should be well as teachers and instructors responsible for physical education at schools. Conclusion The authors emphasize that there is a significant interdependence between anxiety and the level of performance in competitive stress situations. An athlete s self-confidence also plays an important role, which can be regarded as a mediating variable. Instruments such as the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) have a predictive value in assessing levels aware of their individual level of anxiety in relation to optimal functioning, as well as the values of particular coping strategies in sport competition situations. It is important for sport psychologists and coaches to help athletes in establishing their individual levels of optimal functioning. Some limitations of this study include the size of the sample of subjects, which is relatively low. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the coaches and the staff of the Karate Kyokushin Clubs for their help in executing this study References Cosway, R., Endler, N.S., Sadler, A.J., & Deary, I.J. (2000). The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations: Factorial structure and associations with personality traits and psychological health. Journal of Applied Behavior Research; 5,121-43. Endler, N.S., & Parker, D.A. (1999). Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS): Manual (2 nd ed.). Toronto: Multi Health Systems. Hardy, L. (1997). The Coleman Roberts Griffith Address: Three myths about applied consultancy work. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 9, 277-294. Jones, G. (1991). Recent development and current issues in competitive state anxiety research. The Psychologist, 4, 152-155. Jones, G. (1995). More than just a game: Research development and issues in competitive anxiety in sport. British Journal of Psychology, 86, 449-478. Jones, G., & Hanton, S. (1996). Interpretation of competitive anxiety symptoms and goal attainment expectations. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18, 144-157. Journal of Human Kinetics volume 27/2011, http://www.johk.pl
by M. Radochoński et al. 189 Krane, V., & Williams, J.N. (1987). Performance and somatic anxiety, and confidence changes prior to competition. Journal of Sport Behavior, 10, 47-56. Krane, V., & Williams, J.N. (1994). Cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and confidence in track and field athletes: the impact of gender, competitive level and characteristics. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 25, 203-217. Martens, R., Vealey, R.S., & Burton, D. (1990). Competitive anxiety in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publ. Morales-Negron, H. (2008). Self-Efficacy and State Anxiety during Mandatory Combatives Training. Archives of Budo, 2008; 4: 26-31. Mytskan, B., Kurylyuk, S., & Fotujma, O. (2006). Psychic qualities and their role in the system of psychological training of judoists. Ido Ruch dla Kultury/Movement for Culture, 6, 123-130. Pfohl, W. (1980). Children s anxiety management programs: A broad based behavioral program teaching children to cope with stress and anxiety. Dissertation Abstracts International, 41, 3424-A. Swain, A., & Jones, G. (1996). Explaining performance variance: The relative contribution of intensity and direction dimensions of competitive state anxiety. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 9, 1-18. Wrześniewski, K. (2000). Styles and strategies for coping with stress. Problems of assessment. In: I. Heszen- Niejodek, & Z. Ratajczak (Eds.). Man in the situation of stress. Theoretical and methodological problems] (pp. 44-64). University of Silesia Press, Katowice. Corresponding author: Mieczyslaw Radochonski Department of Psychology, University of Rzeszow 35-959 Rzeszow, ul. Jalowego 24, Poland Phone: (+48)17-872-1804 E-mail: mieczrad@univ.rzeszow.pl Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics